Grain-car door.



No. 729,052. PATENTBD MAY 26, 1903.v

' F. R. FINBERG..

GRAIN GAR DOOR.

APPLICATION PILE D FEB. 27. 1903.

10 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llnirnn STATES Patented May 26, 1903.

ATENT FFICE.

GRAlN-CAR DOOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 729,052, dated May 26, 1903.

Application filed February 27, 1903. Serial No. 145,398. (No model.)

T at whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK R. FINBERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Clinton P. 0., in the county of Bigstone and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Grain-Car Door, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to grain-car doors, and has for its objects to produce adevice of this character which will be simple of construction, efficient in operation, and one which may be readily and securelylocked in its closed position or sustained in an unobstructing position when open.

To these ends the invention comprises the details of construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a car having my invention applied thereto, illustrating the door in its closed and locked position. Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating the door in its open position. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the lineS-Softhe preceding figures.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the car doorway or opening provided with a top sill 2, a bottom sill 3, and vertical parallel side bars 4. These parts may all be of the usual or any desired construction, inasmuch as they are entirely foreign to the presentinvention.

In applying my invention I mount at opposite sides of the doorway suitable guides 5 in the form of metal rods or bars secured at their upper ends by bolts or otherwise to the top sill 2 and similarly securedat their lower ends to the side bars 4, adjacent to the longitndinal center of the latter. These guiderods are bent at their upper ends to form recesses 7 for the purpose presently described.

8 indicates the car-door, composed of any suitable material and provided at its sides with bars or braces 9, which extend parallel with the vertical side bars 4. Secured to the upper outer corners of the door are members 10, which engage the guides for sustaining the door during its movement from a closed to an open position and which when the door is in the latter position engagein the recesses 7 at the upper ends of the guides for supporting the door. These members are in the form of short lengths of metal bent into substantially U form to embrace the guides and have their ends secured by bolts or otherwise to the framework of the door.

11 indicates a locking-head in the form of a rotary metal disk pivotally connected to the door by means ofahorizontal spindle 13, journaled through the door and provided at its other end with an operating arm or lever 14, by which the locking-head may be rotated.

Pivotally connected with the locking-head 11 is a series of latching arms or members 15 in the form of resilient metal rods having their inner ends angularly bent to form fingers 16, which engage suitable perforations formed transversely through the head at diametrically opposite points and at their outer ends extending through diagonally-disposed transverse perforations formed through the side braces 9 of the door for engagement with perforated cleats 17, bolted to the door-casing. The perforations in the cleats are diagonally disposed and when the door is closed register with and constitute a continuation of the diagonal perforations through the side braces 9.

18 indicates a bearing plate or washer secured to the door in any suitable manner. This plate lies beneath the rotary head and the inner ends of the latching members for the purpose of sustaining the wear attendant upon the operation of the device. 19 is a similar wearing-plate secured to the opposite side of the door beneath the operating arm or lever.

In operation, supposing the parts to be in the position illustrated in Fig. 1, with-the door closed and locked, the operator in order to release the door rotates the head 11 to the right by means of the operating-lever. This action draws the locking arms or members 15 inward and releases their outer ends from ongagement with the cleats 17. It is to be noted in this connection that the outer ends of the latching members pass through diagonal perforations in the braces 9 and cleats 17, in which they fit snugly,and that theirinner ends will, when the head is rotated, be moved inward toward the center of the head, which action, owing to the resilient or springy nature of the rods composing the members, will cause them to frictionally bind in the diagonal perforations, thus rendering it necessary to forcibly operate the head against the action of this frictional engagement of the parts, whereby accidental releasing of the latches is entirely obviated. After the latch members have been disengaged, as above described, the door is moved bodily upward and the members 10 are engaged in the recesses 7 to support the door in its opened position.

It is to be understood that minor changes may be made in the details of construction herein shown and described without departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is The combination with a car-door, of side braces therefor provided with diagonally-dis- Bally-disposed transverse perforations registering with the perforations in the braces when the door is closed, a locking-head pivotally mounted on the door, means for rotating the head, and latching members operable by the rotation of the head, said members being in the form of resilient metal rods adapted when in theirlatching position to fit snugly at their outer ends in the diagonal perforations and when the head is rotated to release them to frictionally engage the Walls of the perforations.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK R. FINBERG.

Witnesses: D

J. H. ERIOKSON, J. L. ERICKSON. 

